Getty ImagesFollowing the release of the most effective Chinese name of all time, an human monkey and a strategy against “feminist advertising” set the video gaming scene on fire this week.
Many people were angry after the firm behind Black Myth: Wukong sent them a list of issues to avoid while livestreaming the game, including “feminist advertising, fetishisation, and other information that incites bad discourse”.
However, within 24 hours of its launch on Tuesday, it became the next most-played game always on streaming platform Steam, garnering more than 2. 1 million parallel people and more than 4 sales 5 million files.
The game, which is based on the traditional 16th-century Chinese fiction Journey to the West, is being viewed as a rare instance of mainstream media broadcasting Chinese reports on an global level.
What is Black Myth about?
A single-player action game called Black Myth: Wukong lets you play the role of an anthropomorphic monkey with supernatural abilities known as” the Destined One.”
The Monkey King, a crucial figure in Journey to the West, is the figure of Sun Wukong, or the figure in The Destined One.
That book, considered one of the classics of Chinese literature, draws heavily from Chinese myth as well as Confucianism, Taoist and Buddhist tradition.
It has served as inspiration for hundreds of foreign motion pictures, TV shows, and pictures, including the well-known Japanese manga series Dragon Ball Z and the Chinese-American fantasy film The Forbidden Kingdom from 2008.
Getty ImagesWhy has Black Myth received such a great response?
After four years of suspense, Black Myth debuted on Tuesday, first made known via a wildly popular teaser truck in August 2020.
It is the first AAA release in the Chinese video game industry, a title that is normally given to big-budget games from big businesses.
High-end graphics, advanced game pattern and hot-blooded publicity have all contributed to its success- as well as the dimension of China’s gaming community, which is the largest in the world.
“It’s not just a Chinese game targeting the Chinese market or the Chinese-speaking world, ” Haiqing Yu, a professor at Australia’s RMIT University, whose research specialises in the sociopolitical and economic impact of China ’s digital media, told the BBC.
“Players all over the world [are playing ] a game that has a Chinese cultural factor. ”
This has caused the nation a great deal of national pride.
The Shanxi Province Department of Culture and Tourism released a video on Tuesday that showed the real-world attractions, causing a boom in tourism known as the “Wukong Travel, ” which includes many locations and set pieces featured in the game.
In what one X user described as a “successful example of cultural rediscovery, ” videos posted on TikTok in the wake of Black Myth’s release show tourists flooding temples and shrines featured in the game.
Niko Partners, a company that researches and analyses video games markets and consumers in Asia, similarly pointed out that Black Myth “helps showcase Chinese mythology, traditions, culture and real-life locations in China to the world”.
Why has it sparked controversy?
Some content creators and streamers made it known before Black Myth’s release that a company associated with the game developer had sent them a list of topics to avoid discussing while live-streaming the game, including “feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that instigates negative discourse”.
Getty ImagesA widely circulated report by video game publication IGN in November revealed a history of sexist and inappropriate behavior from employees of Game Science, the studio behind Black Myth, though it is unclear what exactly was meant by “feminist propaganda.”
Other topics designated as “Don’ts ” in the document, which has been widely shared on social media and YouTube, included politics, Covid-19, and China ’s video game industry policies.
The directive, which was sent out by co-publisher Hero Games, has stoked controversy outside China.
Numerous creators of content objected to the game’s review, claiming that the game’s creators were attempting to censor discussion and stifle free speech.
Others chose to directly defy the warnings.
One creator with the username Moonmoon launched a Twitch stream of Black Myth titled” Covid-19 Isolation Taiwan ( Is a Real Country ) Feminism Propaganda”. Another streamer, Rui Zhong, discussed China ’s one-child policy on camera while playing the game.
Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, banned 138 users on Thursday who allegedly violated its guidelines when discussing Black Myth.
A number of the banned Weibo users were, according to an article on the state-run Global Times news site, “deviating to the game itself by using it as a platform to spread ‘gender opposition, ’ personal attacks, and other irrational comments. ”
Has this affected the game’s success?
Although the controversy has attracted a lot of attention in the international press and online, it has not really diminished or diminished Black Myth’s overwhelmingly positive response.
The game made$ 53m in presales alone, with another 4. 5 million copies sold within 24 hours of its release. Within the same time frame, it broke the record for the most popular single-player game ever on Steam.
On platforms like Weibo, Reddit and YouTube, and elsewhere, reams of comments are celebrating the game’s success. Many people believe that the controversy surrounding the game’s release was overblown.
Ms Yu agreed, describing Black Myth as an “industry and overall market success”.
“ When it comes to Chinese digital media and communication platforms, of course people cannot avoid talking about censorship, ” she said. Black Myth is an illustration of how to effectively tell the Chinese story and how to spread Chinese cultural influence globally. I do n’t see any censorship there. ”
She also made note of the fact that it is unlikely that any apparent attempts to steer or censor what reviewers claimed were to be from Chinese officials themselves. More likely, Ms Yu suggested, is that the list of” Dos” and” Don’ts” came from a company that was trying to keep itself out of trouble.
The company issues a notification to the company so that if anyone from the central government contacts them to talk, the company can say, ‘Look, I already told them. I am unable to stop people from saying what they want to. ’
“They have basically, to use the colloquial term, covered their own ass, ” she concluded. Instead of being a real directive coming from the top down, I see it as a politically correct gesture to the Chinese censors. ”